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Modern Views, A Conversation on Northwest Modernism

Published by jon buono on Tue, 2010-05-11 10:16

An insightful new documentary about mid-century northwest modern architecture, MODERN VIEWS illustrates how designers today can learn from sustainable and economic choices made as many as 50 years ago.

Screening on May 20, 2010
Museum of History and Industry
Seattle, WA

Through the personal histories and insights of five prominent northwest modern architects, the film offers a deeper understanding of this unique style of architecture happening in the Pacific Northwest in a period that is often overlooked.

Focused mainly on the works of Arne Bystrom, Wendell Lovett, Gene Zema, Ralph Anderson, and Fred Bassetti, these architects of the “Northwest School” discuss how the Pacific Northwest landscape and climate guided their design decisions and their choice of materials, leading to a richer palette of adaptive design aesthetics. Most of them University of Washington graduates, these modest designers often worked under the premise that “less is more” in a period that shared some of the same economic challenges we face today. The work from this modern era depicts the importance of allowing a region to influence modern buildings, while leaving behind an import legacy of environmental responsibility.